World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

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World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk


UK scientists begin study of how long Covid can survive in the air

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:06 AM PDT

Researchers will test length of time virus stays infectious in different climatic conditions

It is the question scientists around the world are trying to answer: how long can the coronavirus survive in the tiny aerosol particles we exhale? In a high-security lab near Bristol, entered through a series of airlock doors, scientists may be weeks from finding out.

On Monday, they will start launching tiny droplets of live Sars-CoV-2 and levitating them between two electric rings to test how long the airborne virus remains infectious under different environmental conditions.

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Dorm snitches and party bans: how universities around the world are tackling Covid

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 09:47 AM PDT

From asking students to report illicit gatherings to expanded online teaching, educational institutions continue to adapt

From overcrowded lecture halls in France to a ban on sleepovers in Ireland, special coronavirus apps in the UK, snitching on dorm parties in the US and shuttered campus gates in India, students face a range of experiences when – or if – universities reopen.

Authorities around the world have introduced different measures to try to balance the needs of third-level education with those of public health amid an autumnal surge in Covid-19 infections. Students will encounter new rules, tensions and scrutiny in response to fears that universities and colleges will open the pandemic's floodgates.

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Inside a Welsh ICU during the coronavirus pandemic – photo essay

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 03:46 AM PDT

Consultant and photographer Nick Mason shares his experience and that of colleagues at the Royal Gwent hospital in Newport, offering a unique perspective documenting the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS frontline

Humankind cannot bear very much reality." TS Eliot, Burnt Norton

Human memory is fickle. Only a few brief months ago, many intensive care units (ICUs) across Britain came close to being overwhelmed by patients with a novel coronavirus, unknown to medicine before January of this year, and causing potentially life-threatening lung disease in up to 20% of those it infects. With the relaxation of the lockdown, however – only possible because it had been so effective – and the good summer weather in which we have been encouraged by Westminster to eat, drink and be merry, we have begun to forget. We have rapidly forgotten the fear and anxiety that rightly held Britain in their grip throughout the spring of 2020, the 40,000 people who died from a single infectious disease within a few brief months and the incalculable suffering caused to their families. We have forgotten that more than 600 health and social care workers died as a result of their work caring for others.

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Global Covid report: Rio cancels Carnival for first time in a century as global deaths near 1m

Posted: 24 Sep 2020 09:49 PM PDT

Landmark event scrapped as Brazil suffers; EU warns pandemic worse now than in March peak for some; Israel further toughens restrictions

As the number of coronavirus deaths worldwide looked set to pass a million within days, Rio de Janeiro delayed its annual Carnival parade for the first time in a century because of Brazil's continued vulnerability in the pandemic.

The global death toll passed 980,000 on Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. With the number of deaths confirmed daily averaging more than 5,000, it looks likely the toll will pass 1 million within days. There are 32m cases worldwide.

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Coronavirus live news: WHO warns 2m could die before vaccine; London protesters urged to follow rules

Posted: 26 Sep 2020 02:47 AM PDT

Brazil deaths pass 140,000 and US cases reach 7m. Follow all the developments live

The number of confirmed cases in Poland has increased by 1,584 to 85,980, the ministry of health reported. This is the second highest daily rise after an increase of 1,587 announced on Friday. Poland reported more than 1,000 cases for the first time on 19 September and now for two consecutive days it has reported more than 1,500 cases.

Officials also confirmed the death of 32 people from the virus.

Mamy 1 584 nowych i potwierdzonych przypadków zakażenia #koronawirus z województw: małopolskiego (259), wielkopolskiego (167), kujawsko-pomorskiego (166), pomorskiego (151), mazowieckiego (146), śląskiego (141), łódzkiego (104), podlaskiego (76), podkarpackiego (72),

Russia has reported 7,523 new cases of coronavirus, the biggest daily increase since 22 June, according to the news agency Tass.

Russia also reported and 169 new deaths from the virus taking its death toll to 20,225.

За сутки в России выявили 7 523 новых случая коронавируса в 85 регионах (вчера было 7 212), 169 пациентов умерли, 6 004 — выздоровели.

В Москве 1 792 новых заболевших, это максимум с 8 июня pic.twitter.com/uBqpAhR4ZT

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Donald Trump to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to supreme court, reports say

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 03:45 PM PDT

President expected to announce pick to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday, setting stage for rightward shift

Donald Trump is planning to name Amy Coney Barrett as his pick to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the supreme court on Saturday, according to multiple reports.

Related: Ruth Bader Ginsburg becomes first woman to lie in state in US Capitol

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California braces for dangerous heat as wildfire battle continues

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 04:43 PM PDT

Triple-digit temperatures could spark new fires just a few weeks after a record heatwave

California is bracing for another dangerously warm weekend, with dry winds, parched vegetation, and triple-digit temperatures threatening to ignite new fires and complicating containment efforts in an embattled state.

With only a few weeks' reprieve after a record heatwave in early September, firefighters have made progress in containing the dozens of blazes tearing across the region. But fatigued crews – many of whom have spent weeks fighting on the frontline – are preparing for a potentially rough week ahead.

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South Korea to ask North to further investigate killing of official

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:31 PM PDT

South's president Moon Jae-in faces growing public and political outrage over the shooting of the fisheries official

South Korea will ask North Korea to further investigate the shooting death of one of its officials, as public and political outrage over the killing grew.

After a national security council meeting on Friday, South Korea said on Saturday that it would call for a joint probe into the case with the North if needed, saying there were discrepancies in accounts of the accident from the two sides.

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UK barrister mistaken for defendant calls for compulsory anti-racism training

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 10:00 PM PDT

Alexandra Wilson says legal system should introduce ambitious measures to tackle discrimination in profession

The barrister who was mistaken for a defendant three times in one day at court has called for compulsory anti-racism training at every level of the UK legal system.

Alexandra Wilson, who specialises in criminal and family cases, put in a complaint on Wednesday and spoke of her frustration about the incident on Twitter. Her tweets, which quickly went viral, resulted in an apology by the head of the courts service in England and Wales.

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Malaysia's PM faces crunch popularity test as polls open in state election

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 09:45 PM PDT

Voting starts in the eastern state of Sabah, seen as a referendum on Muhyiddin Yassin's unelected government

Malaysia's embattled prime minister faces a crucial test on Saturday as polls opened in elections in the eastern state of Sabah, seen as a referendum on his seven-month-old, unelected government.

The leader of the opposition-ruled state dissolved its assembly on 30 July to seek early elections and thwart attempts by Muhyiddin Yassin's ruling alliance to take over Sabah through defections of lawmakers.

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Brexit: Brussels punctures optimism that deal is in sight

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 09:44 AM PDT

EU sources fear Boris Johnson hasn't yet got backing for compromises on state aid to business

Brussels has sought to puncture an outbreak of optimism over an imminent Brexit deal, amid fears Boris Johnson has not secured the backing of key advisers and his party for the compromises needed in the final stretch of negotiations.

With the UK government yet to offer a way forward on the most contentious issues, and trust in Downing Street at a low ebb, senior EU officials treated with scepticism reports that the UK could see a way to secure a deal.

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'Terrible tragedy': Ukraine air force plane crash kills at least 22

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 07:29 PM PDT

Most of those killed in the crash near Kharkiv were military cadets, officials say

At least 22 people including military cadets were killed and two others were seriously injured when a Ukrainian air force plane crashed near Kharkiv in the east of the country, the interior ministry said.

Deputy interior minister Anton Gerashchenko confirmed the death toll, describing the incident as a "shock", and saying that the cause of the crash on Friday was being investigated.

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Canada arrests man for lying about joining Islamic State under terrorism hoax law

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 06:10 PM PDT

Shehroze Chaudhry, 25, gained notoriety from the podcast, Caliphate, but his account of grisly murders for Isis have been questioned

Police in Canada have arrested a man for lying about his participation with the Islamic State, while charging another for joining the terror group in Syria.

Police announced on Friday charges against Shehroze Chaudhry, 25, who operated under the name Abu Huzayfah al-Kanadi. He was charged under the country's terrorism hoax laws, which carry a maximum sentence of five years.

In 2016 Chaudhry had claimed to have travelled to Syria to join Islamic State, alleging he was a member of the terror group's religious police. On social media, he claimed to have conducted at least two executions on the group's behalf.

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'She set the benchmark': trailblazing PNG politician Nahau Rooney dies, aged 75

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 06:52 PM PDT

Manus Island's Nahau Rooney, at one time the only woman in PNG's parliament, dedicated her life to advancing women in her country

Hardworking, audacious, occasionally controversial, but always vivacious: one of Papua New Guinea's political pioneers, Nahau Rooney, has been remembered as a trailblazer for PNG women in power following her death on 15 September, aged 75.

In 1977, Rooney was one of just three women elected to PNG's first post-independence parliament – out of 109 members – where she served as the regional member for the province of Manus.

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Clive James: 'The poems I remember are the milestones marking the journey of my life'

Posted: 26 Sep 2020 01:00 AM PDT

What makes great poetry? An exclusive extract from the late critic's final book The Fire of Joy celebrates the poems he loved most

The French expression feu de joie refers to a military celebration when all the riflemen of a regiment fire one shot after another, in close succession: ideally the sound should be continuous, like a drumroll. I first saw a feu de joie performed at an Australian army tattoo, in the main arena at the Sydney Showground, while I was still in short trousers. Later on, when I was doing national service in longer trousers, I saw the ceremony performed again, on the parade ground in Ingleburn, New South Wales, in 1958. Symbolically, the fire of joy is a reminder that the regiment's collective power relies on the individual, and vice versa.

Imprinted on my mind, the succession of explosions became an evocation of the heritage of English poets and poetry, from Chaucer onwards. It still strikes me as a handy metaphor for the poetic succession, especially because, in the feu de joie, nobody got hurt. It was all noise: and noise, I believe, is the first and last thing that poetry is. If a poem doesn't sound compel­ling, it won't continue to exist. This is an especially important thing to say in the present era, when the pseudo-modernist idea still persists that there might be something sufficiently fascinat­ing about the way that words are arranged on the page.

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Croydon police killing: Met officer named as Matt Ratana

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 06:50 PM PDT

Long-serving police sergeant, originally from New Zealand, described as 'an inspiration'

Police have named the officer killed at Croydon police station as Matiu Ratana.

The 54-year-old sergeant, known as Matt, had served with the Metropolitan police for nearly 30 years. Ratana, originally from Hawke's Bay in New Zealand, came to London in 1989, two years before joining the force.

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UK risks losing contract for new climate research centre because of Brexit

Posted: 26 Sep 2020 02:09 AM PDT

Proposed centre with up to 250 jobs is linked to EU Copernicus satellite programme

The UK is at risk of losing the contract for the expansion of a flagship European weather research centre based in Reading because of Brexit.

The European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has been based in Berkshire for the last 45 years but its future EU-funded activities are now the subject of an international battle.

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US military increasingly using drone missile with flying blades in Syria

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 07:52 AM PDT

'Ninja bomb', which uses 100lb of dense material and six attached blades, has been deployed in targeted assassinations

The US military is making increasing use in Syria of a gruesome and secretive non-explosive drone missile that deploys flying blades to kill its targets.

Described as less likely to kill non-combatants, the so-called ninja bomb – whose development was first disclosed last year – has been used a number of times in the last year to kill militants in Syria, including those linked to aal-Qaida, most recently earlier this month.

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Ugandan lawmakers reject plan for Murchison Falls hydropower dam

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 03:49 AM PDT

Activists praise decision to reject energy ministry's proposal to dam the world-famous waterfall

Conservationists in Uganda have hailed a bipartisan decision to reject the government's plan to construct a hydro-power dam at the country's biggest tourist attraction.

Lawmakers unanimously adopted a report by the 28 member parliamentary committee on environment on Thursday, rejecting the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development proposal to build a 360MW at Uhuru Falls on Murchison Falls national park.

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Ex-care home bosses charged over dozens of deaths in Massachusetts

Posted: 26 Sep 2020 02:00 AM PDT

  • More than 70 people have died of Covid at home in Holyoke
  • Ex-superintendent is being made a scapegoat, lawyer says

Massachusetts' top law enforcement official has brought criminal charges against former leaders of a nursing home for military veterans, for allegedly making a fatal decision that led to the deaths of many dozens of elderly residents and staff.

Related: Dorm snitches and party bans: how universities around the world are tackling Covid

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Australia weather: cold front brings springtime snow and damaging winds to south-east

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:49 PM PDT

Temperatures plummet as snowfall reported in parts of NSW, Victoria and the ACT

Springtime snow has fallen in parts of south-eastern Australia and a severe weather warning is in place as a cold front moves across New South Wales.

Damaging winds hit Sydney on Friday night, with winds of 115km/h recorded at Camden in the city's south-west, while gusts reached 106km/h in the city.

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UK government sourcing NHS PPE from company repeatedly accused of forced labour

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 06:36 AM PDT

Exclusive: Gloves from Malaysian company Top Glove found in NHS supply chain despite multiple allegations of worker exploitation

The UK government has been continuing to source medical gloves used as PPE by frontline healthcare workers from a manufacturer in Malaysia repeatedly accused of forcing its workers to endure "slave-like conditions" in its factories, the Guardian can reveal.

Top Glove, the world's biggest producer of rubber medical gloves, has faced multiple allegations of exploitation from migrant workers mostly from Bangladesh and Nepal.

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Donald Trump jokes about staying in power for '12 more years' at Atlanta rally – video

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 03:59 PM PDT

Donald Trump made light of fears he will not accept the result of the election if he loses to Joe Biden in November. 'Will we be president in 10 years?' he asked, before claiming he was joking.

'You know, you can't joke,' he told supporters in Atlanta. '[The media] always cut it before the laugh so they think he's serious.'

The crowd then chanted '12 more years!' to laughter from the president.

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'I hope you never know the pain': Breonna Taylor's family condemn Louisville police – video

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 11:51 AM PDT

The family of Breonna Taylor heavily criticised Daniel Cameron, Kentucky's attorney general, after a grand jury decided not to charge three police officers directly in the killing of the 26-year-old medical worker.

'I am an angry black woman,' Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, said in a statement read by her sister, Bianca Austin. 'Angry because our black women keep dying at the hands of police officers'.

The family's attorney, Benjamin Crump, called on Cameron to release the transcripts of the grand jury.

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg's personal trainer performs push-ups in front of casket – video

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 09:09 AM PDT

Bryant Johnson, the trainer who led Ruth Bader Ginsburg through her well-documented workout regime, paid his respects by performing three press-ups as she lay in state at the US Capitol. Ginsburg, who died on 18 September, is the first woman and the first Jewish person to receive the honour

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Masked Spanish councillor's English accent proves to be a dub misstep – video

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 04:03 AM PDT

A councillor from Valencia surprised listeners with a minute-long speech in stunningly fluent English and without the slightest trace of a Spanish accent for the city's bid to become the European Capital of Innovation 2020, an honour later awarded to Leuven in Belgium.

Carlos Galiana was being live-dubbed by a native English speaker – with a noticeable regional accent. The Spanish newspaper El Español reported the council did not have an interpreter stand next to Galiana because of strict commission instructions

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